Portobello Steaks Rock

Last night's dinner totally rocked!  Tony totally loved HH's Portobello Steaks.   If you like shrooms, you have got to try these!  The recipe can be found here.  I did make a couple of changes this time.  I didn't have the recipe to make Lindsay's mock beef broth, since I loaned my cookbook out.  So, I just used some veggie broth instead.   I also used red cooking wine in the place of the mirin, because I didn't have that either.  When I answered Tony's question about what was for supper, I wasn't really sure if he would be up for the shrooms or not, but he said he would give it a try.  Folks, he gave it a try and loved it.  He said "Great Supper".   Along with the Portobello steaks we had some organic pinto beans, wild rice, and roasted asparagus.  I tossed the asparagus around in a little olive oil and sprinkled some garlic powder and herbamare on them.  I then baked them on 400 for about 15-20 minutes.  Oh, we also had crescent rolls....for some reason they didn't make the picture. 

For breakfast I had some boring oatmeal with soaked goji berries, apples, bananas, a dash of cinnamon, and a sprinkle of brown sugar.  I know it looks bland, but it sure was good.

Lunch was a simple salad with a side of PopCorners, that I found over the weekend at T J Max.  I was so excited when I saw these.  Apparently they have been a big hit, because there were only a few bags left, with a lot of empty shelf space around them.  They only had one flavor which was the sea salt.  Have you tried the PopCorners yet.   They sorta remind of of a thin rice cake.  They make for a great little snack.

We're having to work overtime this week, so I have been going into work an hour early.  It's weird how exhausting it is to loose that one hour of sleep.  One of Maggie's power naps sure would be great right about now.  :o)

~Peace~

HH's Portobello Steaks

Happy Friday!!!   I started my morning off with some more pumpkin oatmeal.  I used regular oats this time instead of steel cut.  I also added a little ginger and some goji berries, which seem to have disappeared in the picture.  Oh wait there's a little gojo in the middle.  Oatmeal has hit the spot the last couple of mornings since it's been cooler.  I am however missing my smoothies... I feel like I'm having withdrawals.  :o)  I have to work tomorrow, so I guess I'll be braving the cooler weather with a green smoothie.   I have a feeling that I'll still be drinking smoothies this winter.  Or, maybe I should just start juicing more....hmmmmm    Anyway, for a mid morning snack I had a banana with peanutbutter spread on it.

The cookies that I made to take to the party last night were a very BIG hit.  Everyone raved about them and couldn't believe that they didn't have eggs or butter in them.  I not only saw everyone eat a cookie, most of them ate two!   WOOHOO.....   About last night...I have a question.  What do you do if you are going to a party and you know for fact that there's not going to be anything there that you can eat?  Do you eat first or take your own food to eat?  I couldn't decide what to do last night, but finally decided to take my own food, since it was actually a dinner party.  I made HH's Portobello Mushroom Steaks, which were sooo good.  I used baby bellas though instead of the large ones.   I took some brown rice to go with them.  I didn't have time to make anything else, and I had actually made the bella steaks Wednesday night...just in case.   Everyone was eyeballing my supper last night and telling me how good it looked.  I think they were wishing that they had it instead of their BBQ!  They were secretly jealous, at least I like to think that anyway.  I had the leftover portobello steaks for lunch today.  I did take a picture of them this morning....upside down...oops

I didn't have time to make my own salad this morning, so I bought one at work and added the baby bellas to it.  The mushrooms were so juicy that I didn't have to use any type of dressing, which was very nice for a change.  I added a little nooch and dulse flakes too.

We have another party (birthday) to go to tonight.  The host questioned Tony as to what I could and couldn't eat.  Tony told them not to worry about it, that I could handle it.  So, I'm on the fence again trying to decide whether I need to take my own food or wing it and hope that there will be something there that I can eat.  This is the only time that being a vegan is tough for me, but I guess it is what it is.  I don't want people to go out of there way to accommodate me.  At the same time, I feel awkward if I take my own food.  Is being a vegan ever hard for you when it comes to things like this?

I hope you have a great weekend!

~Peace~

Not much time for cooking....

Happy Monday! Have you ever been so busy that you didn't get to cook for several days? After those days have passed, do you look back and try to figure out what you actually did, but really can't seem to figure out what took so much of your time? That's how the last several days have been for me.

I have decided to go back to college to get my Education degree, so I can teach K-6 in the distant future. I say distant future, because it will take me several years to get my degree. It's been a while since I have taken any college classes, so I decided to ease back into it this semester by taking only one class. I decided to take an online class, which is a first for me. I am a huge procrastinator, so this online class should be an interesting task for me. I work full time, so I am hoping that online classes will work out. I hate the thought of being away from my hubby 3 or 4 nights a week to take classes, hence the online class. I keep telling myself I can do this though and he does too!

Here are a few things that I have eaten over the last few days. I think the best was what I made Friday night. I made some portobello tacos. OMG...these were the best things that I have ever put in my mouth...seriously! All I did was clean, de-stem and slice some portobellos, then put them into a nonstick skillet with a little olive oil and balsamic vinegar. I sauteed them for about 10 minutes then put them in taco shells with steamed spinach and guacamole on top. I had Mexican fried rice, chips, salsa and more guacamole on the side.


Saturday night we had pizza. I never get tired of pizza! Anywho....I used some left over spaghetti sauce for the marinara. My half (right side) of the pizza consisted of vegan mozzarella, sliced Tofurky Italian Sausage, red bell peppers, onions, and portobellos, that were left over from the tacos. Tony drizzled a little olive oil over the top, and then I topped it off with a little dried basil. :o) Very yummy! But honestly...can you ever go wrong with a pizza?

One night we had pasta and a salad. Do you ever use jar spaghetti sauce? We normally make our own sauce, but on this night we didn't have the time. I found some Prego Fresh Mushroom pasta sauce and decided to give that a try. It appeared to be animal free, so I bought it. Here are the ingredients. Tomato Puree (Water, Tomato Paste)Diced Tomatoes in Tomato Juice, Mushrooms, Sugar, Vegetable Oil (Corn and/or Cottonseed and/or Canola)Salt, Spices (Basil, Oregano, Spice)Dehydrated Garlic, Onion Powder, Citric Acid, Dehydrated Parsley and Flavoring. It was very good for "jar"sauce. This is what I used for the pizza marinara also. I think I'll always keep a jar of this in the pantry for another "just in case we're in a hurry" time. The salad was made up of leafy green lettuce, shaved carrots, dried cranberries, broccoli, sunflower seeds and pepita seeds, which I finally found at the grocery store the other day. For the dressing I used Newman's Own Cranberry Walnut. I think this is my favorite store bought dressing!

Hopefully I will have a little more control over my time now, so maybe I will be cooking from my new cookbooks this week...just maybe. :o)

~Peace~Love~Happiness~

Stuffed Portabello Mushrooms

It's hump day already...yay! Last night for supper I made stuffed portabellos and a salad. This supper rocked! I will be making these stuffed shrooms again...that's for sure.

You can't really see the mushroom from all its stuffing, but trust me....it's there. :o)

Here's the recipe......

Olive oil for sauteing

1/2 chopped carrots

1 medium onion (diced)

1/2 cup red bell pepper (diced)

1 clove garlic (minced)

1 teaspoon basil

1 teaspoon oregano

1 cup cooked quinoa

1 tablespoon soy sauce

salt and pepper to taste

Italian bread crumbs (for sprinkling on top)

4 portabello mushrooms

Heat about 1 teaspoon of olive oil in a nonstick pan. Add carrot, onion red pepper and garlic and saute for 5-10 minutes, then stir in basil and oregano.

Remove the onion mixture from the heat and add in the quinoa, soy sauce, salt and pepper.

Remove the stems and gills from the mushrooms and wipe clean with a damp paper towel. Place the mushrooms stem side up in a lightly oiled casserole dish. Fill the mushrooms with the quinoa mixture. Pack the mixture down lightly and sprinkle the tops with bread crumbs.

Bake in a preheated oven at 400 degrees for 20 minutes.

I think these would have been awesome with a little vegan cheese sprinkled on top, but I was all out. They tasted perfect to me just the way they were though.

We went to Wal-Mart on Monday and bought a waffle maker. I've been wanting one for some time now. After being tempted by Food Fueds waffles (they looked so good) the other day, I knew I had to go buy one very soon! We made some plain waffles that night, which were good, but not out of this world. We did top the waffles with some blueberry syrup that we got for Christmas from Tony's mom. That made the plain waffles special. :o) Anyway, now I am on the search for some awesome waffle recipes. Anyone have any suggestions?

~Peace~Love~Happiness~

Woody, Woodette and Zucchini Bread

Happy Monday! I don't know about you, but I am not ready for Monday to be here. The weekend went by way too fast. To start off, I wanted to tell you about my sad news. There is a house a couple of houses up from me that had this old, dead tree standing in their front yard. It didn't look the greatest, but the people that lived there refused to cut it. Well, they moved and the new people cut it down. You may ask, "why is that sad?" Well, it was the home of Mr. and Mrs. Woody the woodpeckers. They had lived there for several years. They were known by the whole street. I loved to sit out on the front porch and watch them peck away on the tree. After they were finished they would usually go back into their little hole (home). But, now Woody and Woodette are homeless. I know the dead tree trunk was a bit of an eye sore, but I hate to see an animal lose his home. I was so sad when I heard a chainsaw and looked out the window to see the tree on the ground. :-( I hope Woody and Woodette were able to find a new home!

Thursday night for dinner was fried yellow and zucchini squash, coconut rice, sauteed mushrooms, and a couple slices of Italian wheat bread from the Farmers Market. For the mushrooms, I chopped up a portabello mushroom and sauteed it in a little balsamic vinegar, minced garlic, and olive oil. For the coconut rice, I used 1 cup basmati rice, cooked in 1 cup of coconut milk and 1 cup of water. I also added some minced ginger and lime zest once the rice was finished cooking. The rice was good, but I felt like it was still lacking something.

Friday night was sauerkraut with Tofurky Italian Sausage, Revelation sweet corn and sweet potato casserole. For the sweet potato casserole, I chopped and boiled a sweet potato and then drained the excess water off. I then mashed the potato with a fork and mixed in some vegan butter, agave nectar, a tad of rice milk, and cinnamon. I then put the mixture in a couple of little bowls and topped them with a few marshmallows and put it in the oven for about 10-15 minutes. Just long enough for the marshmallows to melt and get a little brown and crunchy on top. Ummm, I do not believe the marshmallows were vegan. :o(

Yesterday afternoon I decided that I needed to use up the last of my zucchini, so I made some zucchini bread. I made a few changes to my previous recipe, and it turned out tasting great.

1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce

1/2 cup organic sugar

1/2 cup packed brown sugar

1/3 cup safflower oil

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 1/4 cup shredded zucchini

3/4 cup whole wheat flour

3/4 cup all purpose unbleached flour

2 tablespoons flax seeds

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 cup walnuts

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Grease and flour a 9x5 glass loaf pan.

Combine applesauce, sugars, oil and vanilla and mix until smooth. Mix in zucchini.

Combine dry ingredients together and add them to the wet ingredients. Mix in walnuts.

Bake 55-60 minutes, or until a tooth pick inserted into the center of the bread comes out clean. Cool the bread in the pan for about 10 minutes before removing it. Finish cooling the bread on a wire rack.

These two pictures do NOT do the bread justice! It tasted much better than it looks. :o) I need to work on my photography skills.

Oh, the meal planning for the rest of last week didn't really pan out. Things came up unexpectedly and we would end up cooking something fast for dinner. I was still able to make a few of the dishes though. One that I didn't get to make will be made Tuesday night though, so stay tuned for that recipe!

I hope everyone has a great week!

~Peace~

Portobello Black-Bean Burgers

Night one of the meal planning was a success! I didn't really come out any cheaper at the grocery store by planning, but I did only get what I needed for our meals for the week. I only grocery shop once a week, so it may get a little hairy by the weekend. I will keep reporting on how the planning is doing though.

Last night for dinner I made portobello-black bean burgers. I found a recipe online, but ended up changing some things. The recipe called for baking the burgers in the oven, so I started out doing that, but ended up finishing them on the stove. I went to flip the burgers when they had cooked half their time as the recipe stated, but they were too mushy to flip. So I took them out of the oven and sprayed a non stick skillet with cooking spray to finish cooking them. The burgers weren't nearly as mushy, but were still soft. All of that didn't matter to me though, because they turned out to be delicious!

1 can of black beans rinsed
1 roasted red pepper, chopped
2 tablespoons of brown rice flour (or any flour of your choice)
1 teaspoon mild chili powder
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
ener g egg replacer (equivalent to one egg)
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 large portobello mushroom, chopped

Mash the black beans in a bowl. Clean and chop the portobello mushroom and chop the roasted red pepper, then add into the bowl of beans. Add the ener g egg replacer, flour, chili powder, cayenne pepper, and salt. Mix all the ingredients well and then make into 5 or 6 patties. Spray a non stick skillet with cooking spray and cook over low/med heat for 10-15 minutes on each side.

As you see I had fries with my burger, and for all of those who have been raving about Elise's "Fry Sauce", there it is on my plate! Now I get to rave about it. I first learned about this fantastic sauce from Shen over at The Shenandoah Vegan. The recipe came from Elise at The Veggie-Full Kitchen. You can get the "Fry Sauce" recipe here. I can now rave about the sauce too, and I have to admit....this stuff is da bomb!!!!! Dipping my fries in it was NOT enough. I ended up putting the sauce on my burger also. You definitely need to try it if you haven't.

~Peace~

Millet- Stuffed Portobello Mushrooms

Hi everyone! Have you heard of the $40 CSN giveaway over at vegan and so forth . You need to stop by her blog and register if you haven't already. I went onto the CSN website to check out all their goodies and they have everything in the world that you could dream of having for your kitchen, and tons of other goodies. I found tons of things that I wanted. I had to stop looking, or I was going to get into some big trouble (spend some money). :o)

I could barely wait to share my supper with you that I had last night...it was delicious! I found this recipe on the Vegetarian Times website, and I have wanted to try it for about a month now. Finally, I got to make it last night. I made a couple of small changes to the recipe, like leaving out the cheese (I didn't have any vegan to use) and instead of using 4 large portobello mushrooms, I used 6 small ones. I have a thing about mini foods anyway...... I guess because they are so much cuter. If you like millet and mushrooms, you are going to love this recipe. Here are the stuffed mushrooms right after I took them out of the oven. I thought they were too cute...

Here's the easy recipe.

1/3 cup oil-packed sun-dried tomatoes, drained and finely chopped, plus 2 Tbs oil from the jar.

4 green onions, thinly sliced (about 1/4 cup)

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 tsp dried rosemary (I didn't have any fresh)

1 cup millet

4 large portobello mushrooms (I used 6 of the small ones)

1 Roma tomato, peeled and sliced

salt and pepper to taste

Heat 1 tablespoon of the sun-dried tomato oil in a saucepan over medium heat. Add sun-dried tomatoes, green onions, garlic, and rosemary. Cook 5 minutes or until the onions are soft, stirring constantly. Add uncooked millet, and cook for 1 more minute.

Bring 3 cups water to boil in a sauce pan and then add the millet/tomato mixture. Reduce heat to medium low and simmer for 25 to 30 minutes or until millet is tender and all the water has been absorbed. Remove from heat and season with salt and pepper.
Preheat oven to 400. Coat baking sheet with cooking spray. Scrape the gills from the mushroom caps. Brush the caps with the remaining 1 tablespoon sun-dried tomato oil, and place upside down on the prepared baking sheet. Divide millet mixture among the mushroom caps, mounding

to fill. Top with a tomato slice. Bake 20 to 25 minutes.

I had fried zucchini and mashed potatoes for my side items. I can't seem to get enough fried zucchini lately. BTW, these were so good that I wanted to eat a 3rd mushroom, but I didn't want to over stuff my self. I also had quite a bit of the millet mixture left over, and it was delicious to eat just by itself for lunch today.

~Peace~

Shiitake Angel Hair Pasta

When my husband and I went to the farmers market Saturday to get some veggies, there was a man set up selling organic shiitake mushrooms. He was also selling the logs that the mushrooms were growing on, so you could take the log home and grow your own. It was the coolest thing. Needless to say I had to at least try the mushrooms, so we bought some.
I never really cared for mushrooms until I became vegan. I made myself eat them a couple of times, now I LOVE them! My husband got on the internet and found a pasta recipe for the shiitake mushrooms. We changed the recipe up a little and it turned out great. It made an awesome Sunday night dish for us. Along side the pasta we had a salad with fresh lettuce out of our garden. For our salad dressing I made Lisa’s Lemon Tarragon Dressing from http://veganon10.blogspot.com/. It was delicious. It made the salad taste so fresh. The only change I made to it was that I added another tablespoon of agave to make it a little sweeter.
Any way if you like pasta and you like shiitakes, you are going to love this recipe. Check it out.

6 ounces whole wheat angel hair pasta
1 ½ cups fresh chopped shiitake mushrooms
2 cloves garlic, minced
½ onion, chopped
1 tablespoon olive oil (for sautéing)
1 tablespoon corn starch (for thickening)
1 1/4 cup vegetable broth
1 1/4 cup white wine
Salt and pepper to taste

Saute garlic and onion in olive oil over medium heat. Add mushrooms as the aroma develops. Add vegetable stock and wine. Cook for about 2-3 minutes then add corn starch. Cook until mixture is reduced to ½ volume.
Add salt and pepper to taste once you have the mixture how you want it.

While cooking the sauce, cook pasta in a large pot of boiling salted water until al dente.

Drain pasta and toss with sauce until coated.

This picture of the pasta does not do it justice! It was sooo good. I ate leftovers for lunch yesterday, and it was still just as good as it was Sunday night.
~Peace~

Grilled Portabella's

There’s nothing like grilling on a Saturday evening, except for when it is a blazing 120 degrees outside. Okay, maybe it was 98, but it sure felt like 120 with the humidity. Anyway, I really wanted to try this new recipe that I found for a portabella and pineapple teriyaki veggie burger, so my husband decided he would grill for us. Check out his grill….doesn’t he have the food laid out so cute. He’s a pro griller! :o) Yes, those are his pork chops on the back part of the grill.

I got this recipe from the Whole Foods website. If you like Portabella’s then you are going to love this. The teriyaki sauce and pineapple makes for the perfect combination. The mushrooms were bursting with flavor. I decided I didn’t really want to make a burger with the mushroom this time, so I just ate it with a slice of pineapple on top and dipped it in the left over sauce. We had rice, asparagus, and some fresh corn from the farmers market also. This is a new corn that we tried. It’s called Revelation. Anyone ever heard of or tried it? It was a sweet, mild tasting corn….very good~

Ingredients:

4 Portabella mushrooms (stemmed)
1- 20 oz can pineapple rings (juice reserved)
3 TBS soy sauce
2 TBS light brown sugar
1 TBS finely chopped garlic
1TBS grated ginger
1 TBS tasted sesame oil
Canola oil
¼ cup water
1 TBS cornstarch

Scoop out and discard the dark brown gills from the underside of each mushroom with a spoon. Wipe mushrooms gently with a moist paper towel to remove any remaining debris then transfer them to a wide, shallow baking dish along with the pineapple rings.

Put ¾ cup of the reserved pineapple juice, soy sauce, sugar, garlic, ginger, and sesame oil into a small bowl and whisk together to make a marinade. Pour marinade over mushrooms and pineapples. Cover and marinate for 1 to 2 hours. The longer you marinate the better.

Grease grill grates with canola oil to prevent the mushrooms from sticking. Pour off the remaining marinade into a sauce pan. Bring marinade to a boil over medium heat. In a small bowl stir together water and cornstarch. Pour water/cornstarch mixture into the sauce pan with the marinade and whisk over medium heat for 1 to 2 minutes then set aside.

If making a burger top the mushroom with a pineapple, lettuce and some marinade and what ever other fixings you like. Or, just enjoy the mushroom and pineapple by its self by dipping it in the marinade (like I did). It was delicious. If you have marinade left over, make fried rice with it. It makes for some very yummy fried rice!
~Peace~